Fenders are guards that are adapted to be positioned over wheels and that are shaped to block water and other substances and debris that may be kicked up from a supporting surface. Fenders are common to many land vehicles, including motor vehicles, such as automobiles and various types of land equipment, and self-propelled vehicles, such as bicycles and the like.
However, not all land vehicles are equipped with fenders. For instance, wheelchairs are not equipped with fenders. There are generally two types of wheelchairs: manually driven wheelchairs and power wheelchairs. Manually driven wheelchairs are provided with relatively large driven wheels that are driven by a wheelchair occupant. Fenders could interfere with the occupants ability to operate the driven wheels and thus are impractical. The driven wheels of power wheelchairs are not driven by the occupant or by an attendant. Instead, the driven wheels are driven by motors. Hence, fenders would not necessarily interfere with the operation of the driven wheels. However, with the advent of independent suspensions, the driven wheels may have a tendency to bottom out in or come into contact with the fenders when traversing obstacles or rough terrain and thus affect the operation of the drive wheels. A wheelchair fender is needed that does not interfere with the operation of the drive wheels.